Kristin Bauer van Straten
| DOB=November 26, 1966 | birthplace=Racine, Wisconsin, USA | imdb_id=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0061877/ }} Kristin Bauer van Straten is one of the supporting actors of Once Upon a Time, portraying the role of Maleficent. Biography 'Life' Bauer van Straten was born Kristin A. Neubauer on November 26, 1966, in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. In her childhood she played sports, rode horses, and shot guns. She graduated from The Prairie School in Racine. Bauer van Straten studied fine arts at Washington University in St. Louis as well as in Boston and New York (Parsons The New School for Design) in her youth, but decided to become an actress and moved to Los Angeles, where she has been living since she began acting in 1994. She continues to draw and paint. Her works include commissioned portraits. Van Straten carries out conservation work to improve the treatment of animals. She lives with many rescued animals at her home in Los Angeles. On August 1, 2009, Bauer married South African musician Abri van Straten, of the group The Lemmings, at her family’s farm in Wisconsin. 'Career' In 1995, she had her first recurring role in a television series, as Maggie Reynolds on The Crew. Other recurring roles are those of Geneva Renault in Total Security, Candy Cooper in That's Life, Rebecca Colfax in Dirty Sexy Money, and Belinda Slypich in Hidden Hills. Perhaps her best-known film role was in Dancing at the Blue Iguana in 2000. Bauer van Straten played a porn star appearing as the featured act at a Los Angeles strip club and performed an extended nude dance. In 2001, she starred in the award-winning short film Room 302 and in 2004 she had a minor role in 50 First Dates, starring Adam Sandler. In the animated series Justice League she supplied the voice of the superhero Mera. She has also made a number of guest appearances in several television shows, including LA Law, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Dark Angel, Two and a Half Men, Star Trek: Enterprise, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, and George Lopez. Bauer van Straten played the role of vampire Pam on the HBO series True Blood from 2008 to 2014. In 2011, she was cast in the ABC fantasy-drama series Once Upon a Time as the wicked Maleficent, a friend/rival of the Evil Queen. 'Activism' In 2011, Bauer van Straten teamed with the Animal Legal Defense Fund in the fight to free Tony, a 10-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger who had spent every day and night of the last decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana."ALDF Files Suit to Free Tony the Truck Stop Tiger". She's also worked with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to promote cosmetics that are not tested on animals."Leaving Animals Out of the Cosmetics Picture", by Abby Ellin, December 28, 2011, NYTimes.com. Gallery Gallery of behind the scene stills released to promote the actor. BTS 102 06.png BTS 102 07.png BTS 102 08.png BTS 102 09.png BTS 102 15.png BTS 102 16.png BTS 102 17.png BTS 102 18.png BTS 102 19.png BTS 102 20.png BTS 102 21.png BTS 102 22.png BTS 102 23.png BTS 102 24.png BTS 102 25.png BTS 102 26.png BTS 102 28.png BTS 411 03.png BTS 411 04.png BTS 411 05.png BTS 411 06.png BTS 411 08.png BTS 411 12.png BTS 411 16.png BTS 411 17.png BTS 411 18.png BTS 411 19.png BTS 411 20.png BTS 412 01.png BTS 412 04.png BTS 412 06.png BTS 412 08.png BTS 412 09.png BTS 412 15.png BTS 412 16.png BTS 413 01.png BTS 413 02.png BTS 416 08.png External links *Official Facebook page *Official Twitter account References Category:Supporting Cast Category:Season 1 Cast Category:OUaTiW Cast Category:Season 4 Cast Category:Season 7 Cast